


See My Face

by bleedinglight



Series: VanVen Week 2019 [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, VanVen Week (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21924166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleedinglight/pseuds/bleedinglight
Summary: What did it mean to have a face?Day 3: Innocence | Mask | Reverse
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: VanVen Week 2019 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577038
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	See My Face

What did it mean to have a face?

In the beginning, Vanitas often asked himself this. He didn’t have a face at first. He was a being of darkness after all; a Heartless that was special in the way he was able to think coherent thoughts but still moved under his master’s command. The mask that came with him was what he deemed it to be his own face. It was natural. It was suited for him. Until it began to change the moment he felt something tug on his broken half of a heart—it felt like an innocent light. A _new_ light that was just born and he felt pain spread through his body.

The light made him feel sick.

He vomited out black sludge in the desolate and arid Keyblade Graveyard, having fallen to his knees when the pain grew too much. His body trembled and shuddered as more black sludge came out. Once it was finally done, he stared down at it and to his surprise—

_He realized he had a face._

Vanitas slowly lifted his hand to touch his own face, gloved fingers sliding along smooth skin. Golden eyes stared back at him.

This face…

It didn’t even belong to him.

Vanitas snarled and pulled away from the puddles of darkness, letting his mask reform over his face. He couldn’t let the master realize he had a face now. He didn’t know what the master would do, but he didn’t want to find out. Yet, he can feel something calling out to him, too. Something stronger than the leash the master had on him. It was a tug to that other half of his heart that he hadn’t felt in so long. Despite wanting to resist it, a portal of darkness appeared and he stepped through it without a thought.

\----

He eventually arrived in a room and his eyes landed on the boy sleeping on a small bed.

So this was where the master had brought him.

Vanitas held back a snarl as he realized the master seemed to purposefully keep his light apart from him but he ignored that for now. Right now, this boy had called out to him even in his sleep. For once, there was no one else around and he would be a fool if he passed up this chance. The mask melted away and he blinked a few times as the gentle rays of the moon greeted him.

Had the world always been so…bright?

He hated it.

Vanitas shook his head and treaded closer to the blond. Golden eyes peered down at him.

He seemed so at…peace. It made Vanitas sick. Did this boy truly think he could just sleep forever after being so weak that Vanitas was forced to be born? He didn’t deserve to look so peaceful. He didn’t deserve to be able to sleep so peacefully while Vanitas suffered for so long. Anger boiled deep inside of him and he reached out, his fingers beginning to wrap around his throat.

_Die._

_Die._

_How dare you make me come alive while you get to sleep?_

_You don’t deserve peace._

_You don’t—_

A shuddering gasp slipped out from the blond and Vanitas felt himself freeze as those eyes opened. It wasn’t long before blue met gold.

Deep down, Vanitas can feel his chest constrict. His face. Ventus was seeing his face. There was something almost pleasing about that, making his hold on him relax.

“W-Who are you?”

But the question made him freeze.

Vanitas glared down at him, pleased to see Ventus jerking back. “You don’t know who I am?”

“No. I don’t…” He trailed off, a lost look entering those eyes and Vanitas wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or just go on with his plan to strangle him. “But…I…know you, don’t I? You’re someone close to me.”

There was something about his words that made Vanitas feel warmth bloom in his chest. He hated it. He wanted it.

He really, really hated Ventus right now.

Vanitas glared down at him but slowly pried his fingers away from his neck, taking pleasure in the slight indents of his fingers still visible against his skin.

“You do,” he almost spat out. “You know me. I know you. We’re closer to each other than anything else in the world.”

“Who—”

Both of them went quiet when they heard a sound coming from outside. It was a sound that had Vanitas’ mask reforming, hiding his face once more.

“You’ll remember. I’ll make sure you do.”

With that, he was quick to leave.

\---

It had been ten years.

When Vanitas was reluctantly reborn into this world, the master had told him everything he missed during his own years of slumber. However, one thing that stood out to him was that Ventus had gone missing. No one had seen the blond since their fateful encounter all of those years ago. Aqua had hidden his body, kept him away from Xehanort’s clutches and Vanitas despised her for that. How dare she take away what was his?

But a body was useless without a heart.

Vanitas knew about the boy, Sora.

The one who saved Ventus the first time. The one who had given him his face. Knowing that he shared a face with the so-called Hero of Light made him even more determined to keep his mask on. He held no desire to have his face seen by anyone else. Only Ventus was given that privilege. Only Ventus was allowed to see the face behind his mask. So the moment he cut his ties with that world full of monsters, Vanitas traversed through many worlds, always one step behind Sora, pulling on the invisible strings that kept him tied to his light.

It was fascinating watching Sora deny who he truly was: a cage.

A prison created to keep hearts.

It was only after Sora saved Aqua did Vanitas realize what a chance he was given. It was easy to handle the two of them. Sora was still weakened from his own stupidity; he was beginning to tread closer to the truth than he really wanted and his own heart wouldn’t be able to handle it. The duck and the dog were of no threat to him. Aqua, on the other hand, might prove to be more of a challenge, but he knew she was already traumatized by her time in the Realm of Darkness. For someone who vouched so much for the light and was named a Master, she truly didn’t understand how the darkness was meant to work.

It led to their downfall.

Vanitas couldn’t care much about them as he walked towards Ventus’ prone body, the bodies of his friends laid out unconscious around them. With no one else to see them, his mask began to melt away. He watched impatiently as Ventus began to twitch before his eyes slowly began to peel themselves open.

Finally.

_Finally_.

The blond’s eyes were finally open and they looked on in horror once they landed on his face.

Vanitas grinned at him, malicious and _hungry_.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”


End file.
